换脸AI一夜爆红 或对普通人有潜在危害

近日一款名为「ZAO」的人工智能换脸App火爆网络，号称「仅需一张脸，出演天下好戏」。用户只要上传自己的人脸照片即可将把明星的脸替换成自己并出现在各类影视片段中，完全没有任何违和感，轻松体验一把“明星瘾”。

然而，爆红之后争议随之而来，各种隐私相关安全风险不由得让人担忧。

AI-powered face changing app sparks privacy concern

Global Times

A mobile app based on AI technology that can replace face picture of an actor or actress with user's own picture went viral on the Chinese internet Saturday but it also quickly drew wide concern over possible abuse of users' privacy.

The application named ZAO, developed by Chinese dating app giant Momo began circulating since Friday night. The app allows users to upload one of their selfies and swap it with  face of a celebrity on any video from films, television dramas or entertainment shows. 

circulate

表示“散布；流传”，英文解释为“If something such as a rumour circulates or is circulated, the people in a place tell it to each other.”举个🌰：

Rumours were already beginning to circulate that the project might have to be abandoned.

有关这个项目可能被迫放弃的流言已经开始在四处传播。

swap

表示“交换”，英文解释为“If you swap something with someone, you give it to them and receive a different thing in exchange.”举个🌰：

Next week they will swap places and will repeat the switch weekly.

下周他们将互换位置，以后将每周换一次。

For example, some swapped their face with Audrey Hepburn's in the classic movie Roman Holiday while some replaced their face picture with Sun Li's, the leading actress in the Legend of Zhenhuan (2011), or Empresses in the Palace, which was considered the most successful Chinese TV series shown overseas. 

The hashtag "Zao AI changes face" ranked 7th among the most-searched topics on Sina Weibo and the number of its download on  iOS app store has climbed to the second among entertainment apps. 

However, one article of the terms of use of ZAO has been widely debated among the public as according to it, if a user grants permission to this app, it, in turn, authorizes ZAO app and its related company the right to use their portrait for free globally. The authorization could not be withdrawn and is without a time limit. The company also has the right to sublicenses and re-permission of the portrait, which is not limited to face photos, pictures, videos, and edited versions. 

grant

动词，表示“给予，准予”，英文解释为“to give someone something or allow them to have something that they have asked for”举个🌰：

Britain could grant Spain’s request.

英国可能会同意西班牙的请求。

注意，在日常英语中，人们一般说give permission，而不说grant permission（In everyday English, people usually say give permission rather than grant permission.）举个🌰：

They gave him permission to stay.

他们允许他留下来。

In actual operation, if users want to make face-changing videos, they not only need to upload their photos but also need to undergo several procedures with the authorization of the right to portrait. Just like the facial verification procedures requested by banks, users should complete the instructions of lifting their heads, swinging their faces and opening their mouths. After that, users should fill in their phone numbers and if they want to share on WeChat moment, they should authorize to connect with their Wechat accounts. 

swing

表示“（使）（前后）摆动，（使）摇 摆，（使）摇荡”，英文解释为“to make regular movements forwards and backwards or from one side to another while hanging from a particular point, or to make something do this”举个🌰：

Let your arms swing as you walk.

边走边摆动双臂。

Some netizens pointed out that the terms of use create the loophole that if the criminals get hold of users' phone numbers, face photos, by using the technology, they can pretend to be users and talk to their family. 

loophole

通常指法律中的“漏洞，空子”，英文解释为“a small mistake in a law that makes it possible to avoid doing something that the law is supposed to make you do”，如：a loophole in the law 法律上的一个漏洞。

Some are worried that the app could be misused by individuals to access their Alipay account by scanning their faces and steal their money, as nowadays scanning face technology has been widely used to unlock cellphones and access mobile apps, especially e-wallet apps. 

"A technology company records your face, knows your phone numbers and social media account numbers, how far it is away from unlocking your bank card?" asked many netizens. 

The AI face changing technology is not new. The technology that is used to produce so-called deepfake videos involving celebrities' image has already caused concern in China with many worrying that this deepfake technology could be used maliciously as there have been previous cases where the images of Hollywood A-listers, such as Wonder Woman actor Gal Gadot and Harry Potter star Emma Watson were spliced into pornographic content.  

splice

表示“捻接，绞接（绳子）；粘接（胶片等）；拼接”，英文解释为“to join two pieces of rope, film, etc. together at their ends in order to form one long piece”举个🌰：

Scientists have discovered how to splice pieces of DNA.

科学家们发现了拼接 DNA 片断的方法。

An underground market of deepfake porn videos with celebrities' faces has also emerged with the technology. The Global Times previously found that underground sellers of porn videos with actresses' faces are used to attract buyers at online forums and share a cloud drive link of the videos after receiving money through WeChat or Alipay. The price depends on the length and quality of the video, and a package of 700 videos is sold for 158 yuan ($23).

Why ZAO makes users celebrities in video is so popular?

The reason is simple. Because ZAO is the easiest. 

The original deepfakes is just a set of algorithms, which is based on multiple open source libraries such as Keras. Later, a master added some tools to encapsulate them into references to FakeApp. This is a desktop application that can run the deepfakes algorithm without installing Python, TensorFlow, etc., but only "high-performance GPU that supports CUDA." 

encapsulate

表示“概括，压缩；封装，密封”，英文解释为“to express or show something in a short way；to completely cover something with something else, especially in order to prevent a substance getting out”举个🌰：

Her whole philosophy can be encapsulated in this one sentence.

她全部的人生哲学可以用这样一句话来概括。

This sounds simple, but for the average user, downloading, installation, and training are all time-consuming and laborious projects. So it is usually made and released by some enthusiasts, and everyone appreciates the film after the change of face. 

laborious

表示“耗时费力的；艰巨的，艰难的”，英文解释为“needing a lot of time and effort”，如：a laborious task 艰巨的任务。

This time ZAO pulled the threshold down to almost nothing. 

Users want to experience AI face change, no longer need a computer, high-performance GPU, data sets, programming and AI knowledge, just a mobile phone, a selfie, you can replace the faces of the protagonists in a variety of film and television scenes with their own faces. 

This is an unprecedented experience, and although the effect can not be said to be particularly good, but usually, it is quite good, at least let the user have the motivation to send to the circle of friends to show off. 

unprecedented

表示“空前的，前所未有的”，英文解释为“never having happened before, or never having happened so much”举个🌰：

He took the unprecedented step of stating that the rumours were false.

他史无前例地声明那些谣言实属子虚乌有。

From this point of view, ZAO certainly has a reason to burn its own money and make users feel good about it. Of course, ZAO should not be short of money, after all, behind the famous company: Momo.

- END -

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